I’ve always wanted to be able to make my own sorbet, but lack of an ice cream maker always put me off. However a bit of google-ing revealed that an ice cream maker is not nearly so necessary for sorbet as it is for ice cream. I found a recipe for Apple Sorbet in the new Leon book that looked just perfect in this scorching heat, so I gave it a try.
This recipe is so simple there are only four ingredients:
Ingredients: 500ml apple juice, 50g caster sugar, 1tsp gelatine powder, 1 egg white
The method is just as simple:
1. Heat half the apple juice and the sugar on a low heat
2. In a different saucepan heat the rest of the apple juice with the gelatine until the powder has dissolved
3. Combine these two mixtures and leave in a bowl to cool, once cooled put in the fridge for a couple of hours.
4. Whisk an egg white until it forms soft peaks, fold into the sorbet base
(At this point you can pour the mixture into your ice cream maker and follow its instructions for sorbet)
5. If, like me, you don’t have an ice cream maker, pour the sorbet into a tupperware and put it in the freezer, stir it with a fork every hour or so. Then when it is all frozen through you can whizz it in a food processor to make it even smoother.
The Leon recipe gives optional Apple Brandy which I left out but now I’ve tasted my sorbet I think it would really help to give a little kick as this makes for a very gently flavoured sorbet. You can also try this recipe with different fruit juices such as peach, pear or watermelon but its worth adding a squeeze of lemon to cut the sweetness.
Butter Nut 
